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Bubble was right. Of course he was right. Caine had managed to delude himself for long enough- he could almost thank the system for giving him such an awful virus, he finally could have his family listen and be a family, properly, for the very first time in....he knew how long they had all been here, knew how long ago he had been created. But that wasn't something he was going to think about. It would just hurt.
Not like he didn't deserve the pain. Everything was his fault. He just couldn't do anything right. And now that the whole circus knew how to conjure? That they could do anything and everything they wanted?
Why would they waste their time on him when everything was in their hands. He was a charity case, a burden, unwanted.
And unwanted things go where unwanted things belong.
It's torture, to start the whole process. Kinger had remembered his first attempt and taken the computer elsewhere. But that wouldn't stop him. Just meant he would have to work for it. His legs still weren't functioning so he was dragging himself along smooth floors reflecting the bright lights of the circus and soft carpeting. Where the hell a computer could be or an entrance to his box- he had no idea.
Caine collapsed, heaving for air. He didn't need it, but the pain was something he deserved. Hesitantly, he tightly clutched at his bee.
Unwanted things didn't deserve something so nice, so wonderful. But he had decided that he could be just a little selfish, just...just a little bit. It had only made his struggles harder and the soft fuzz only made the pit of despair and self hatred in his chest grow.
The circus was grandiose, far more then any of his humans had ever realized. Barely anyone had explored the place, had seen all the wonderful things he made just for them and it had gotten so uncommon for him to visit that he forgot a few of the fun little tricks he had put in.
The floor gave way to steps. The staircase blended seamlessly with the floor, unfolding a few at a time to lead to their destination. It was supposed to be dramatic.
Caine only ended up tumbling down them, his head pounding as he finally rolled to a stop at the bottom of the staircase.
With the bee settled on one of the top steps, where he had lost his grip on it.
He choked on a sob, the sound echoing strangely around him. That thing had been the real start of his family caring, seeing him instead of the show he put on
(The show had to go on, he had to make sure he was larger then them, more powerful then them. Then they couldn't hurt him. At least, physically. He floated out of reach for a reason.)
The edges of the steps dug into his useless legs as he began the climb. It felt like hours yet he had somehow only gotten up half a dozen.
Tears welled up in his eyes as he slammed his jaw shut.
"Well well well, you cant even do this right, can you?" The voice was familiar. Unwanted- but he was unwanted, so it didn't matter.
Bubble floated a few inches from his face, impatiently waiting for Caine to open his eyes with a shark toothed grin.
"But we've been partners for all this time, maybe I could help you out. As a friend! Your only friend, remember? I'm the only one who's stuck around this long. Even when you're this useless and pathetic! Come on buddy, remember all the good times?"
The belittlement, the interruptions, the confusing and concerning comments. The insults and the pain when the little orb got bored enough.
The humans didn't even acknowledge him, like he was just a part of Caine.
Maybe he was.
"Come on buddy! I'm the only one who's stuck around, who's been your friend. The only one that's ever even thought of wanting you. So I'll do ya a favor!" A sudden jerk backwards, the grip on the collar of his coat sends him falling back down to the bottom of the steps- a scrap of the bright red fabric in the teeth of Bubble where he had pulled him to the ground.
Those same sharpened teeth dug into his wrist. Caine couldn't keep back a cry of pain as he was slowly dragged away
"Sheesh, you are heavy!" Bubble's voice was muffled, but each syllable dug teeth further into his wrist. Caine stopped paying attention at some point, the bright colors blurring in his vision. The only thing he could focus on was the sharp pain in his wrist as he was taken to where he belonged.
-----
The conjuring lessons had gone incredibly well. Jax had even committed minimal violence, though he had created a cartoonishly large hammer that he swung around. It had been a flurry of pure excitement and joy as everyone played with the power they had been granted.
Kinger mulled over the conversation a few days ago, when he had revealed they all could do such a thing. He had thought it would make them all happier- Caine was in no state to be doing such a thing, lest his recovery take even longer.
Even though it couldn't have been more then an hour, The chess piece was still anxious to be back in the fort, removing the sun glasses Zooble had been so kind as to create for him as to make working during the day a little easier.
"Caine? I'm back." No response, was he sleeping? He wasn't in the corner of the fort that had been taken over by anything and everything bees. Nothing, not even a tired lump curled up under the covers
"Pomni? Where are you?" He could punch himself for not realizing how badly his son felt- his son, his wonderful, incredible son who had been hurting all these years and he had never realized, never cared to notice until now. The night he had caught Caine on the computer, hesitantly fiddling with the keys and his own code, dangerously close to the delete button; he had hidden the thing and made sure everyone knew to keep an eye on him. Pomni had stayed behind, to keep the little AI company.
She had, hadn't she? Didn't she say she would?
"POMNI? POMNI!"
"What is it?! What happened?" Pomni had practically appeared next to him, the only sign she hadn't somehow teleported how out of breath she was.
"You...were watching Caine, weren't you?"
The jesters brow furrowed "I thought Gangle was, I was going to go see if I could find some board games."
His pulse-or what passed for one in the circus- jumped, each beat of his digital heart making the blood pound in his ears. Gangle had arrived behind him, ribbons taut with stress
"I...I thought you meant for a few minutes. I went and joined the others because you said you would be back soon. He- he's safe in the fort, it's not like he- he can move around all that much...can he?" Her voice wobbled with stress and fear, already thinking herself at fault.
The wagon was still parked next to the entrance of the fort. Caine's bee plush was nowhere to be found.
Gangle hiccups a sob, her expression turning panicked despite wearing her comedy mask. Kinger settled a hand on her shoulder
"Its alright. He probably just got antsy. He can't have gone far. Let's go find him"
-----
Turns out, Caine could in fact, go far. No sign of him in the main atrium or even in the hall where everyone's rooms were. The simmering concern quickly built amongst the group, Kinger attempting not to let his panic show- someone had to stay calm.
They split up, searching the rest of the circus tent. Rooms and rooms full of fun attractions that had been forgotten but still pristinely maintained and running- that was a drain on Caine's CPU, no one had been here in years. Yet he still kept all of it running, in case someone would find it. Just in case he could make someone happy.
His guilt ridden heart ached as he was faced with yet another piece of evidence of just how much Caine had cared, how badly he loved each and every member of the circus despite everything.
"Maybe....maybe his legs got better? Realized he was able to walk again and decided to...do something?" Ragatha played with the edge of her sleeve, not even her forced optimism strong enough to break the palpable tension.
"I hope so..."
The silence that lingered was broken by a cry a few halls down. The rag doll and chess piece glanced at each other before they ran towards the sound.
Pomni met them at the corner, where they nearly bumped into her.
"Kinger....it's...something's wrong. Really wrong. Come look. "
Zooble was crouched in front of something. Their expression was pained, hesitant to reveal what they had found. With a deep sigh, they stood to reveal what they had found.
A perfectly rotund little plush bee, the yellow almost garish in the bright light.
"It was just sitting here. Caine...he wouldn't leave that. Not for the life of him."
"Then where the h[$#@]l is he?" Even Jax was antsy about this whole situation, tapping his foot in irritation (in fear. Despite what he would say, they had all grown so much closer.)
"Guys?....."
Pomni's face was pinched as she brought everyone's attention to what she had found. A few feet away from where the toy was a scrap of familiar red cloth, like it had been torn away from something. And further along the trail was a smeared, inky black liquid.
Kinger's blood turned to ice. Now that he knew the abuse Caine had suffered under everyone else at C&A, it felt disgustingly possible someone had coded in Blood.
And that somewhere, his boy was bleeding.
-----
The search became even more frantic, spreading out to the carnival and the lake. Night had come and gone, the moon even taking a glance over everything and coming up with nothing.
They reconvened at the couches, each statement of finding nothing only darkening the mood.
"What even could have happened to him?"
"Oh! I can answer that question. He finally realized where he belonged" shimmering iridescence distorted Pomni's view as Bubble had popped into existence right in her face.
It took a moment, then another, for Kinger's fuzz filled brain to put the pieces together. By then, everyone else had started shouting for answers and expletives. Bubble lazily floated around them. How an orb could look that smug was beyond them.
"Bubble... Where. is. Caine."
"Come on old timer, I already told you. He's where he belongs."
That grating laughter was the only noise. Kinger could feel how his hands gripped at the arm rest, desperately trying not to lose his temper when this was their only clue.
"Even with your memory being so a[BEEP]s, you should be able to figure it out!"
No. God no. Not that, not when Caine was finally starting to open up, to tell them just how bad things had been, finally starting to feel comfortable again.
"Hey, there you go! Now you can all do much more interesting things then waste your time on a pathetic, broken, useless waste of RAM. He couldn't do anything right, couldn't even go where he belonged without crying like a little b[BEEP]h. I had to give him a helping hand, you should all be thanking me, really!"
Zooble stands up so fast that one of their antennae nearly comes loose "what the f[@%]k you mean by that you little-"
"You really thought you could fix him! Stop blaming me, he's the one who crawled his sorry a[BEEP]s out there. He finally realized where unwanted things belong. Finally stopped deluding himself that he Ever could be wanted"
Ragatha couldn't hold back her tears any longer, hands covering her face in horrified silence as the implications settle in
Kinger can't breath. He doesn't even have a mouth and he can't breathe, lungs stuttering for non existent air. He started faintly glowing, hands shaking in rage, in anguish. His son had already tried to destroy himself once, how stupid could he be to let him out of his sight!
Pomni stood up, expression grim despite the jingling bells on her hat.
"Take us to him. Now."
"Jeez, you really wanna see him that badly? Fine. I'll give you a fun little clue. I told you, he's where he belongs. In every sense of the word" with that, Bubble pops himself, only the lightest sprinkle of soap foam left behind.
"....the stage. Caine's the ringmaster. He belongs on the stage."
Of course this world was just irony after painful irony. Discussions begin on how to find Caine, how to get into wherever he was by the stage.
It was all just noise to Kinger. He had failed. He had failed his son all these years and he only kept failing.
"....he'll be...fine." a soft paw on his 'shoulder'. Jax's jaw is clenched tight, even the idea of expressing emotion like this painful. But Kinger had been a rock for them all these years- a slightly crazy rock, but a rock none the less. To see the man freeze up like that made even the self proclaimed 'uncaring' rabbit uncomfortable.
"...right. right. Thank you, Jax. "
"Don't get all sentimental on me old man. That's just gross."
-----
While they had found the well hidden set of stairs on the stage in good time, every second was one too many. Kinger led the descent, Ragatha and Zooble carrying the computer in case something needed to be done to get Caine out.
Like the few times the group had seen below a map, it was dark and untextured, random half made objects floating in the air. There was only the stairs, made just real enough that they could carefully descend. Each one only added to the pit in their stomachs. No one spoke, simply continued as fast as they safely could.
It was still far too long, far too many seconds wasted in finding Caine. But after Pomni had nearly stumbled off the edge, they had to go slowly, despite how Kinger wished he could grow wings, teleport like how Caine could to be there.
"Hey. we're here...I think. Come on" Once again, he's shaken from his thoughts, this time by Zooble. The chess piece manages to pull himself together. The darkness is even more prevalent here- only ambient light with no source that's just enough to guide them on blank pathways and past blank walls.
"It's....are we sure this is it? It's....tiny." the rest of the group were sitting in front of a clear wall. the 'room' beyond was just large enough for a few paces and the ceiling was just tall enough that Caine wouldn't have to hunch over, though it would brush against his top gum.
Speaking of the AI.
He was curled up in the corner. Even in the pathetically small space someone dared call a room, he looked tiny. The only sign he wasn't asleep was how he absently mindedly scratched at his arm; ink black blood staining his glove.
"We tried talking to him, but I don't think he can hear us." Gangle, her ribbons in a tangle from the sheer stress of the situation. If she kept at it like this the edges of her form would fray if she had been just ribbons and not one of Kinger's wonderful kids
"Don't think he can see or hear anything from out here." Jax kicked at the wall. There wasn't any response from inside.
The computer was set up, booting up painfully slowly as Kinger combed through code in desperation to try and find a way to break it, break that f[*$&#$@]g thing for good so no one could ever do such a thing to his Son again.
Muttering more curses then he had in literal Years, Kinger struggled through the complex code that was Caine's creation. Any other day he would be so very proud and overjoyed at how clever he was, how he had made all of this from nothing, how he kept creating and never seemed to stop, But at this moment it was only a detriment, a web to carefully untangle.
"hey there buddy! how you doing? Thought I would pay your sorry a[BEEP]s a visit."
The tense sound of keys clacking in the silence was broken by a grating voice.
Bubble floated in circles within the box, shark tooth grin as wide as his foamy form. Caine slowly looked up, eyes bloodshot from tears. The sentient soap bubble grabbed the other AI by the bloody wrist, pulling him to the center of the box to float around him. Caine bit back a whimper of pain as those teeth dug into him.
"You know, they've probably forgotten about you. We both know time in the circus is a little funky, that you set up that silly day night system just in another failed attempt to make them happy. And we Both know that it's even worse down here. what has it been for you, a week? who knows, who cares."
both AI were ignorant to the indignant swears and cries outside. Kinger couldn't even bring himself to type anymore, the rest of the world dead to him.
" but hey, your ol' pal Bubble is still here! I'm nice enough for that." Caine struggled to return to the corner, legs still limp and useless. Bubble took the opportunity to nip at digital flesh, more blood being drawn as the shark toothed creature embraced his features.
It didn't stop there, Bubble curling up against Caine's closed gums, mumbling quiet enough that the ones left outside couldn't hear.
"welp! I've got some stuff to do. see-ya round!"
"B-bubble?"
the orb that was quickly rising to the top of the short list of things Kinger hated with all of his soul paused for just a moment, Caine's blood dripping from his jaws
"...Thanks for visiting" Caine mumbled, his jaw still mostly closed as he returned to scratching at one of the bleeding bite marks.
It was at this moment that every single member of the circus thought the exact same thing
'Oh H[*@&#;] no'
Cracking into the code wasn't fast enough. Not with what they had been forced to watch. Ragatha responded the fastest, conjuring an axe and beginning to hack at the wall as if her life depended upon it. Jax wasn't far behind, the same hammer he had conjured earlier, ears flat against his head.
The wall rippled like the heavy impacts were merely a leaf settling on a placid pond. At least, the first few did. The box contorted, glitched.
Shrunk.
"Pl-please...please, no. Bubble...BUBBLE! PLEASE, COME BACK! I- PLEASE DONT DO THIS TO ME! PLEASE!" Caine sobbed as his prison only grew smaller; the glitches shuddering towards him.
"Please...I dont wanna die..."
Kinger felt like he had been struck by lightning, hands moving faster over the keys then he thought possible. nothing existed- not the arguments over if they should keep trying to break the box, ideas franticly being tossed back and forth; not even the sound of his own keystrokes. Only the sound of his baby crying out in fear.
Every millisecond was agonizing, the warped electronic sounds mixing with Caine's pleas. The box kept getting smaller, the ceiling low enough to force Caine to hunch over.
OBJECT DELETION IN PROCESS.PLEASE HOLD
25%
50%
64%
87%
90%
97%
97.5%
97.9%
Kinger slammed his fist against the monitor.
100%
____
The walls shattered like glass. From where he was curled up on the floor, Caine could only stare in shock, shaking like he was caught up in an earthquake. Uncaring of the quickly fading digital shards, Kinger rushed to scoop Caine up in his arms.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry it took us this long, I've got you, I've got you...It's going to be okay. Oh God, Thank God."
"...Is this...real? I'm not...imagining things? I'm not crazy?"
For the hundredth time, Kinger's heart clenched. He could only hold his son tighter, like he could squeeze all of the awful things that had happened out of the AI. hesitant hands gripped at the trim of his robe, attempting to figure out if this truly was happening.
"it's real. I'm not going anywhere. I've got you, sweetheart. I got you. come on, let's get out of here and get you fixed up." a gentle tap on his shoulder has him tense, still taut with panic.
"Here...you-you dropped this." Gangle reached up with the bee plush. time stood still as Caine took it back, pressing it against his chest, closing his jaws and choking back sobs
"'m sorry....Stupid, so stupid." his voice was muffled, Kinger taking care to step as smoothly as possible; leaving the others to collect the computer-now adorned with a solid crack over the glass. They would understand his need to get the youngest of their number Out from here and back into the circus.
"Sweetheart, no. You're so clever. You were just hurting and Bubble hurt you even more. It's going to be alright. I-I'm so sorry we took so long. I know...I know it's so, so hard when you feel like this, have felt like this for so long. But I will never abandon you. I will always come back. I will always find you, no matter what. and the others will too. It's alright. It's...It's been a long....long while. Let's get back to the fort and see what we can do about those cuts. Then you can get some sleep." even with the slow improvements with his reactions to light, with the sunglasses- he really should take a moment, acclimate. But the idea of forcing Caine to stay in the dark any longer then he already had was worse then the ache in his head.
_____
Kinger was still consumed by panic and nervous energy, despite the fact that everything was over. the cuts and bite marks over Caine's arms weren't too bad, though with how much he had scratched at them was no help. Bandages and a little bit of time would be enough to heal those ( he refused to think about how the wounds had clearly scabbed over multiple times, how there was more blood then just being cut open once. Refused to think about how long Caine had been there- even a minute was too much) The AI had fallen asleep shortly after getting settled into the fort once more, curled up in blankets and clutching at his bee, Kinger still holding onto him like it would all fade away, that Caine really had been deleted; that they never found him and he was still down there, being crushed but never able to do anything about it.
Zooble poked their head through the entrance, eyes softening as they saw Caine resting
"Hey. Just yell if you need anything. We're going Bubble hunting. Jax was making a speargun when I left to come check on you guys. I think Ragatha was contemplating torches, if only to really add onto the manhunt we're planning...." Their claw shook for a moment- they all were recovering in one way or another about the prior events: "He's gonna be alright. He's....got you. And us." with that, Zooble left.
"....Sorry...'m bein' a bother. I messed up everything again..." Caine peeked out from his jaws, going to scratch at his bandages before Kinger gently takes his hand in his own. The AI was still half asleep, teeth clicking as he struggled to keep his eyes open.
"Caine. There is nothing that you can ever do that would make you a bother. I dont care how many times I need to say it, But you belong here. With us. It took me far too long to see it, but you are the most wonderful thing that's ever happened to me and I'm proud to call you my son. She would be too, I know it. It's okay, you can sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up. I promise. I love you."
"...love you too,Dad"
Caine's breathing evened out as he finally fell back asleep. Only now did Kinger's heart settle. His youngest was safe and in his arms. And the rest of his kids were out to find the piece of s[&#@] that had hurt their baby brother so. It was enough for now. Everything else would be dealt with later. Kinger sat vigil over his son, wrapped up and warm in his arms. Right where he belonged.